Posing Yellowlegs On A Rock Stage

On a visit to Glover Pond last week I found this Greater Yellowlegs resting on a rock surrounded by relatively clear, still water which I thought made a nice setting for the bird (even though the rock also provided some compositional challenges).

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A Curious Coyote, A Reflection And A Compositional Quandary

Two days ago we found this coyote exploring along the Antelope Island causeway. We watched it gnaw on a duck or shorebird carcass (possibly falcon leftovers, based on past experience) and then it continued to look for something, almost anything, to eat. When it reached the end of a rocky spit jutting out into the Great Salt Lake it entertained us with some interesting behavior.

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Mallard Reflection

“Reflecting” my need to work with an image with some color for a change (after all of the snow, brutal cold and gray skies we’ve been having) and also inspired by some recent discussion with blog reader Sue Johnson regarding reflections, I’ve chosen to post something this morning that’s a little different for me. Last July I found this wild female Mallard posing and preening on a perch I liked and in warm, early morning light.    1/320, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light As I gained experience as a photographer I found myself gravitating away from reflections, often preferring instead the fine detail typically available in traditional portraits.  But for my tastes, this image provides both – good detail and a strong reflection.  I like the setting, pose, perch, light and reflection.  In fact I like the reflection (bird and water colors) at least as much as I do the live bird. The image may be a little tight for some but it’s very close to full frame, shot vertically, and I just didn’t have as much wiggle room as I would have liked.  I thought I’d present the image for your consideration anyway… Ron

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A Compositional Conundrum

I intended this post to be a single image for my “Just A Shot That I Like” feature.  It didn’t turn out that way. Six days ago I found this Great Blue Heron on the edge of a small, partially frozen creek with an almost vertical snow bank directly behind and very close to the bird.  The heron was patient with me and I was close so I tried a variety of compositions using my 500 mm and 100-400 mm lenses.  The incredibly fast shutter speeds were because of the bright snow and my forgetfulness in adjusting settings as I was juggling two cameras and lenses. In the end I couldn’t decide which composition I preferred so I’m presenting three of them here.      1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light  This relatively tight vertical shows good detail on the bird and I like the close view of the swirly marks on the snow behind the heron made by a wing as it landed.       1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 100 – 400 @ 400mm, natural light Some folks gravitate toward whole-bird reflections so I’m also including this composition.  Ideally I’d prefer the bird to be slightly further left in the frame but cropping off the left makes the image too narrow vertically for my tastes and I have no more room on the right (image was taken vertically and is close to full frame).     1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, 100 – 400 @ 400mm, natural light A horizontal composition with the heron slightly smaller in the frame shows more of the…

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